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October 18, 2009

Picture a great part of a day

By Tom Davidson

SOUTH PYMATUNING TOWNSHIP — His name was Efrem.

Efrem Hubbard. He was alone with his thoughts Sunday afternoon, soaking up the sun and trying to catch a few fish at Parker’s Landing.

It’s a gem of a spot in South Pymatuning Township, a secluded section of Shenango River Lake filled with natural beauty. After a week of gloomy weather, it was the perfect place to catch a few rays (in my case) or fish (as Hubbard was want to do).

I marveled at the beauty of the changing leaves. They were the only bright spots of the perpetual gray skies and damp cold that dominated last week.

When the sky opened up Sunday, the reds, oranges, yellows and in-betweens seemed to sparkle in the sunshine. At Parker’s Landing there was a lone car in the parking area and it had Ohio plates.

I took my time on the trail that led to the water, breathing in the crisp air as I walked from the woods to the beach, past the remnants of a campfire, then along the water, which rippled in the steady breeze that made the reflections of the leaves in the water look like a real Rembrandt masterpiece.

The symphony of nature was welcome to my ears, it’s quiet beauty appreciated after a weird news week dominated by over-the-top coverage of “Balloon Boy” and the pathetic case of a Colorado family’s flirtation with fame that reaches a crescendo Sunday, when the world learned the dramatic boy-in-a-balloon story was fabricated, a criminal attempt at fleeting fame.

I prefer my news to be real and have found time and again that the truth is more exciting and unpredictable than any imagined tale. Take the story about the loose horses along state Route 18.

I’ve covered a lot of things in Mercer County, but have never been in the midst of a stampede like I was Saturday. I’m glad things turned out OK and the horses didn’t cause a horrific crash along a section of the highway that’s been the site of a few of them.

Back to Efrem.

He came to sight in silhouette, a lone fisherman hoping to land something worthwhile.

“I’m looking for the big boys,” he told me.

The landing has turned into a favorite and fertile fishing spot, he said.

“You never go home without one nice, decent, fish,” he said.

A 48-year-old retired private investigator from Boardman, Ohio, Hubbard found the spot about four years ago and fishes it often.

“There’s no place like it,” he said.

It’s worth the $52 for the out-of-state fishing license because places closer to home, like Mosquito Lake in Trumbull County, are “fished out,” he said.

The fish weren’t really biting Sunday, but Hubbard didn’t mind. Enjoying the weather and the sights and sounds of nature were enough of a pay-off, he said.

During a previous trip he watched a pair of bald eagles fishing one afternoon. They’d circle above and dive into the water and come away with the fish, fly away to eat it and return an hour later to repeat the routine.

On Sunday, he enjoyed watching a crane’s aerial acrobatics against the blue sky, he said.

He caught a small striped bass while we talked and I took a few pictures. I left after a handshake and was smiling as I drove back to the newsroom. I enjoy the drama of small moments like the time I spent with Hubbard.

It may have little actual news value, but it reassures me of the Shenango Valley’s greatest asset: Its people.

“There’s a lot of friendly people here. I really feel at ease being out here,” Hubbard told me. “The only thing I worry about it being eaten by a bear.”

We laughed.



E-mail Tom Davidson at tdavidson@sharonherald.com

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